*Note: All pictures on this post were taken with a Droid, since I couldn’t find my camera this morning.

With a storm forecasted to roll in before lunch, Molly and I hit the road early hoping we could beat the rain (Uvas Canyon is right around 60 miles south of SF, so it was a little bit of a trek.) To get there we drove though an awesome little private Swedish community called Sveadal. Secretly I was hoping for horse-drawn buggies and butter churns, but the reality was even better. Moss-covered rocks, little cottages…I was afraid a gnome was going to jump out in front of my car. So anyway, we finally got to the trailhead. Armed with raincoats we set off onto…totally sunny trails. We started out heading toward Alec Canyon trail. The first part of the hike was on wider fire roads up to a 35 foot fall called Triple Falls, which was cool, and the views of the valley were awesome.

The falls that followed were even better, though, with a heavier water flow and dramatic drops. And on the hike back we stumbled upon colonies of ladybugs hibernating, which was really interesting/gross (too many bugs in one place always make me a little squirmy.)

Hike #2: RAGING SUCCESS! We did the whole thing in under 2 hours and got great views, sick waterfalls, and learned a little bit about nature. Food afterwards was a local favorite, chicken pho from Sai’s Vietnamese in the Financial District. Totally delicious.

Lessons learned: I want to live in a Swedish village, ladybugs hibernate

ladybugs on a stick

Flora and Fauna: Toyon (which also excited me bc in 6th grade our class took a trip to Toyon Bay on Catalina)

I don’t usually read a lot of fiction, but I read an article about the author and was intrigued. The original Swedish title is “Män som hatar kvinnor“, or Men Who Hate Women, which I actually prefer. I think it is more appropriate considering the content. The book is a solid airport read, didn’t have any issues with the translation (which I have found to be something I notice with a few other authors).